Today I published the second episode of my BookTube series “Voices under the Sun”. The theme of this episode is “Matches”. You can watch the episode HERE.

Please make sure that you turn on the English subtitles, as there is a message here that is not evident in Chinese. Perhaps I consciously decided not to include the message in Chinese, as I am certain that when Chinese readers hear the theme song, “Days Without a Cigarette”, most of them will immediately understand what I tried to convey. (I wrote something related to this back in June 2013.)

Other than that, in this episode, I highlight a recent exhibition held by the State Library Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, on the evolution of a figure called “Miss Redhead” on a popular matchbox label. I then discuss the appearance of matchboxes in Taiwanese author Sanmao’s film script Red Dust (1990). I proceed to talk about the use of matches as a theme in Danish author Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Little Match Girl” (1845), in Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), and in U.S. author Ray Bradbury’s classic sci-fi novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953).

It remains my hope that I can help Chinese readers get a glimpse of the literary topics and trends being discussed/debated in the West, while opening a window for Anglophone readers to the world of Chinese literature and culture.

Thank you for your attention. I look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions on how I can improve my BookTube series “Voices under the Sun”.

Updated June 23, 2019: You can find an English transcript of this episode, in the form of a 24-page zine, here.